Musings on Medicine, Philosophy, Literature and Life

My Classics List

My journey as a reader started when I was a kid, I guess at the age of 8 or so- when I started reading independently by picking and choosing books I want to read. All the books I chose to read were only because my sis had read them first and this was the case for most of my books. Even today, when I read a good book, I know I have to share it with my sister immediately. I cannot thank her enough for inculcating in me a love for reading and writing.

This year I really made some major changes in my Literary Journey as a reader. I committed myself to reading more books than I usually do, motivated by the Brunch Book Challenge (The challenge is to read at least 36 books in the whole year, the genre of your choice, with at least 6 titles that are by Indian Writers. You can find the details here: http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/brunch-book-challenge-is-back/story-1Vxcpgxtzd44p0BJH3mEoK.html). Apart from this, I also set some personal reading goals such as- Reading books by a diverse range of authors that I have never read before, Reading at-least one Hindi novel(I managed to read one already, yay!), Re-Reading The Harry Potter series entirely( also done!) and also to read more Classics.

I came across this blog-group called The Classics Club on WordPress and the idea of making a personal list of the classics I have been wanting to read for a long time but haven’t been able really thrilled me. This way, I will be motivated more to actually read them. I have been working on this list since the beginning of this month but didn’t take it up seriously. I’m currently reading the book “Love Among the Bookshelves” by one of my favourite writers- Ruskin Bond, about the books that influenced him, and I thought it is high time I make progress with the list.

So Here is the List of 50 Classics that I hope to read in the next Five Years. I have already read quite a few classics this year that I have always wanted to read, but I’m not adding that in this list, because obviously there is no dearth of these).

Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte

Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte

The tenant of Wildfell hall- Anne Bronte (I’m fascinated by the Bronte sisters, specially the youngest sister- Anne. Already finished Wuthering Heights a couple of days back but I wanted to keep the set together so included it.)

Bleak House- Charles Dickens

David Copperfield- Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist- Charles Dickens (Have read abridged versions of David Copperfield and Oliver Twist as a kid but would like to read the complete novels as well.)

The Painted Veil- W.S. Maugham (W.S. Maugham is one of the writers I started reading this year, have read two of his novels and a couple of short stories. I absolutely admire his writing. The fact that he was a physician is what got my interest in his works and his books have been my this years most loved discoveries.)

The Great Gatsby- F.Scott Fitzgerald

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain

To Kill a mocking bird- Harper Lee

Go Set A Watchman- Harper Lee

Metamorphosis -Franz Kafka

The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde- Robert Louis Stevenson

A game of hide and seek- Elizabeth Taylor

Love among the chickens- P.G. Wodehouse (I read a part of this book in Love among the Bookshelves by Ruskin bond, and it was one of the many books that influenced him, and I immediately knew I had to read this one.)

One flew over the Cuckoos nest- Ken Kesey

Charlotte’s Web- E.B White

For Whom the Bell tolls- Ernest Hemingway

The Old man and the sea- Ernest Hemingway

The Scarlet Pimpernel- Emmuska Orczy

A study in Scarlet- Arthur Conan Doyle

The Sign of Four- Arthur Conan Doyle

The Murders in the Rue Morgue- Edgar Allan Poe

Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand

I also wish to read more Indian classics. I am ashamed to say I haven’t read a lot of Indian classics, except Malgudi Days although I read a lot of contemporary Indian Writers. I hope to make change that by including these books in my 50 Classic Reads for the next 5 yrs :

Guide-R.K. Narayan

Bachelor of Arts- R.K.Narayan

Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts

Gitanjali- Rabindranath Tagore

Choker Bali- Rabindranath Tagore

Parva- S.L. Bhayrappa

Coolie- Mulk Raj Anand

The Private Life of an Indian Prince- Mulk Raj Anand

The Serpent and the Rope- Raja Rao

The Room on the Roof- Ruskin Bond (The first novel written by a 17 yr old Ruskin Bond)

A flight of Pigeons- Ruskin bond

Rag Darbari- Shrilal Shukla

Godaan- Munshi Premchand

Shadow Lines- Amitav ghosh

The Collector’s wife- Mitra Phukaan (first english novel by a writer from north-east India)

Fasting, Feasting- Anita Desai

Baumgartner’s Bombay- Anita Desai

In Custody- Anita Desai

So there goes my complete list. I’m not sure if I will be able to manage all this, but hey! it’s good to have a vision and a list. I will also try and give reviews for as many as I can! Took me many days to make this complete list, as there were so many to choose from. What do you think about the list? Any recommendations? Let’s keep the classics- the older and the modern evergreen and let’s keep the love for reading alive

Excellent compilation. Have read To Kill a mocking bird, One flew over the Cuckoos nest, Atlas Shrugged, Guide, Godaan. I think you should also read Fountainhead, An experiment with truth, City of Djinns, Discovery of India, Kamayani et al